We've provided this printable version of our review for your convenience. Please remember that your shopping clicks support this site. If you think this camera is a good choice for you, please consider returning to the link below to check prices and make a purchase via our shopping links.

Also note that this is just one of the pages from this review. Full reviews have several pages with complete analysis of the many test shots we take with each camera. Feel free to download and print them out to see how the camera will perform for you.

Sigma DP2s Overview

Posted: 02/20/2010

Sigma's DP2s digital camera is a relatively minor update to the company's
existing Sigma DP2
model, which was first announced in September 2008, and reached the market the
following May. The Sigma DP2s is a fixed-lens compact digital camera that, like
its predecessor, is closely related to the company's existing Sigma
DP1 model. The most significant differences between the DP2 and DP2s as
compared to the DP1 is in their choice of lenses and image processors.

Where the original DP1 had a 28mm-equivalent (16.6mm actual) lens with a
maximum aperture of f/4.0 that focuses as close as 12.2" / 30cm, the DP2 and
DP2s replace this with a rather less wide angle 41mm equivalent (24.2mm actual)
lens that has a brighter maximum aperture of f/2.8 and can focus to 11" / 28cm.
All three cameras place the lens in front of a near-APS-C sized (0.98" / 24.9mm)
diagonal Foveon X3 image sensor with 14.1 million 7.8Ám photodiodes, capable of
measuring full RGB color information at every pixel location. The Sigma DP2s
hence outputs a 4.64 megapixel maximum image size. Like the DP2 before it, the
Sigma DP2s includes Sigma's "TRUE II" image processor, instead of the original
Sigma TRUE ("Three-layer Responsive Ultimate Engine") processor from the DP1.
The Sigma TRUE II processor is said to offer improvements in processing speed,
operation, and performance as compared to the original TRUE processor.

Changes in the Sigma DP2s as compared to the DP2 are mainly to be found in
its firmware and the bundled software. The Sigma DP2s is said to have improved
autofocus algorithms that improve focusing speed. There's also a new power save
mode that can be enabled to extend battery life, although it isn't stated
precisely how this is acheived (nor how much the battery life can potentially be
extended). The rear-panel icons indicating the functions of the various controls
have also been changed, with a dark red instead of light blue screen printing
used for the playback mode functions. Also, several more of the buttons now have
their function physically imprinted into the button surface as well as being
screen-printed adjacent to the button.

The other main change between the Sigma DP2s and DP2 is in the software
bundle. The DP2s now includes Sigma Photo Pro 4.0, rather than the current Sigma
Photo Pro 3.5.2.0 release. Sigma Photo Pro 4 has new image processing
algorithms, as well as new chrominance / luminance noise reduction algorithms
applied at ISO 400 or above. These are said to improve image quality, and the
application also now has multi-core support, which should boost processing
speed. Sigma Photo Pro 4 also is said to offer improved display speed, and
better printing. Finally, the Mac version has inherited some more functions from
the Windows version including batch white balance and JPEG conversion.

Pricing and availability for the Sigma DP2s had not been announced at press
time.